GoG initiatives

The JVC has identified the following locations for In addition to project development initiatives, several key tourism development initiatives have taken by the state which are as under;

A Joint Venture Company (JVC) has been formed with IL&FS IDC for undertaking development of tourism projects under the PPP format.. The JVC has identified the following locations for project development:

Mandvi – Kutch

Dholavira – Kutch

Sasangir and Somnath – Junagadh

Champaner – Panchmahal

Dwarka – Jamnagar

Development of convention centre at Surat and Vadodara

Development of air strips for enhancing connectivity between the tourist destinations

The concept of “tourism fund” for the districts was developed for the first time whereby Rs. 80 crores was spent of improving 442 locations in 2006-07 and 2007-08. In 2008-09, District Collectors have been asked to concentrate on developing one spot by concentrating all resources at that location. This should help develop at least one location in a comprehensive manner every year.

Government celebrated 2006 as Tourism Year to promote growth of the sector.

Integrated Tourism Development Plan for 37 destinations was prepared and tenders have been issued for five of them.

24 eco tourism projects have been taken up at a cost of Rs. 21 crore. These projects include eco-trails, jungle stays, desert safaris etc.

Provision of Rs. 100 crores for each year was proposed for tourism sector during 11th Five Year Plan

Tourism Promotion Councils have been constituted at District levels that include stakeholders at the local level.

Reduction of entertainment tax from 50% to 25%, Value Added Tax (VAT) on food at 4% compared to 12.5% in most other States, no luxury tax on room tariffs up to Rs. 500 and the Hotel Investment Incentive scheme for 20-room hotels at select destinations have been introduced.

A total of 33 Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) involving an investment of Rs. 10,793 crores (USD 2.57 billion) were signed at the 2007 Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor's Summit (VGGIS). Almost all of these projects were in the hospitality sector.

Prohibition relaxed for members/delegates of any national or international convention/conference or business meet and for persons residing in Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

TCGL-AMA Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Management started at Ahmedabad with a corpus of Rs. 15 lakh where a one year diploma in Tourism and Hospitality Management has been initiated. The Institute of Hotel Management has been declared as a Centre of Excellence.

688 local guides, 34 regional guides and around 2194 service providers have been trained.

Several initiatives have been taken for marketing and promotion as follows:

The TCGL website now offers a choice of seven languages

Tours are organised for tour operators, column writers and travel journalists. Regular road shows are held at all major Indian cities.

Tourism Information Bureaus have opened at Jaipur and 14 Tourist Reception Bureaus opened at State Transport (ST) bus stations.

Advertisement in in-flight and other important tourism magazines have begun.

Signages are put up at all important destinations.

The above initiatives indicate a strong evolving commitment in the State to attract investments in the sector and reap its socio-economic benefits. However, while the mechanism for strong project planning seems to be fairly in shape, the implementation performance, especially in public-funded or PPP projects seems constrained and remains largely unexplored.